The Decline of the United States

Of course it began in around 1981, when the neoliberals gained control of the government through Ronald Reagan and then imposed University of Chicago economics on the masses.

When the Republicans turned even more to the right, the neolibs started infesting the Democratic Party, almost rendering it useless. The operative word is "almost," as many, many people are finally seeing through the scam.

According to figures published by the Social Security Administration on October 20, the median income for American workers in 2010 was $26,364, not much more than the official poverty level of $22,025 for a family of four. Given that a family making even twice the official poverty level faces real hardship and insecurity, it is no exaggeration to say that the SSA report shows that the “poor,” by any reasonable definition, constitute the absolute majority of the American people.

On the other side of the spectrum, a Congressional Budget Office study released October 25 shows that the richest 1 percent of US households saw a 275 percent increase in their income between 1979 and 2007 and more than doubled their share of the national income. While the income of this layer nearly tripled, the income of the middle 60 percent of the population rose only 40 percent over 28 years, and the income of the poorest 20 percent rose by only 18 percent.

26k won't even support an individual in most areas of the country, let alone any kind of family. The statistic probably isn't including household income but rather individual income.